State Rep. Justin Harris and his wife, Marsha Harris, have received more than $350,000 since 2009 in shareholder distributions from Growing God's Kingdom, the West Fork preschool they own, according to audits filed with the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
"I haven't been on the payroll since 2010," Justin Harris, a third-term Republican from West Fork, said in a text message on Thursday.
But as a shareholder, he has received annual distributions, said Jennifer Wells, his Little Rock attorney.
The total amount of shareholder distributions for 2009 through 2013 was $355,798. Justin and Marsha Harris own 99.9 percent of the company's shares, according to a tax filing. Audit numbers for 2014 weren't available.
Asked how much total compensation is paid to Justin and Marsha Harris, Wells said, by email, "My clients decline to release that data."
Justin Harris has been under scrutiny since the Arkansas Times first reported on March 3 that he and his wife adopted two girls -- ages 5 and 3 -- then gave them to Eric Cameron Francis of Bella Vista.
Francis, a former teacher at Growing God's Kingdom, was arrested in April 2014 and accused of molesting three girls, including the older girl from the Harrises' home. Francis pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual assault and is serving a 40-year sentence.
Justin Harris has said the two girls he and his wife adopted had been scarred by past abuse and were too difficult for them to raise, turning his life into a "nightmare" and a "living hell."
Justin Harris said the Department of Human Services fought to prevent him from adopting the girls, then threatened to go after him for child abandonment when he tried to give the girls back to the state. Harris said the department misled him about the mental and emotional disorders that the children suffered and left him with no other option but to give the girls away.
Francis and his wife were raising three children who had been adopted from abroad, Harris has said, adding that he thought giving the girls to the Francis family was a "perfect" solution to his problem.
Harris said he had no idea that Francis, a minister, posed a threat to children.
The relocation of the girls sparked public anger and legislation to outlaw the practice of "re-homing" adopted children in Arkansas.
INCORPORATION
Growing God's Kingdom was incorporated in 2004 with Marsha Harris as president and Justin Harris as vice president, according to the secretary of state's office.
It was set up as a for-profit S Corporation, which passes corporate income and losses through to the shareholders, who must report them on their personal income taxes.
By doing it that way, the owners avoid paying taxes twice, at the corporate level and again at the personal level, said Wells.
According to the company's 2006 income-tax records, 50 percent of the shares are owned by Marsha Harris, 49.9 percent by Justin Harris and 0.1 percent are owned by Pauletta Frederick, Marsha Harris' mother.
Pauletta Frederick is listed as secretary and treasurer of Growing God's Kingdom, according to the secretary of state's office.
Growing God's Kingdom receives about 90 percent of its funding from the government, according to the audits. About 60 percent comes from the state, 30 percent from the federal government and 10 percent from tuition. The school's annual budget is about $900,000.
Marsha Harris, who is chief administrator of the preschool, is on the company's payroll.
An Arkansas Better Chance Program grant application, signed by Marsha Harris on March 31, 2014, listed her as receiving salary and fringe benefits of $54,200 per year.
Income was scarcer in the business's early years, documents show.
A 2009 report on Growing God's Kingdom by Kathy Miles of the Human Services Department noted that Marsha Harris hadn't always been paying herself for work she did at the preschool.
"She did not have the funds to pay herself and says that when that situation arises, she chooses to work without pay," Miles wrote in her report. The preschool distributed $42,467 to shareholders that year, which is about half the amount distributed in 2013.
RAPID GROWTH
Growing God's Kingdom went through some growing pains in 2007, when the Harrises applied for and were granted 88 "slots" for children who qualify for Arkansas Better Chance funding. Arkansas Better Chance is the state's preschool program for low-income families.
"It was a family in-home pre-K that was tuition-pay only for the first two years," Harris said via text message Thursday. "Then we applied for the ABC grant."
Beginning with the 2007-08 school year and continuing since then, Growing God's Kingdom has received more than $500,000 a year through Arkansas Better Chance grants.
Now the preschool has state funding for 110 children and a total enrollment of 159.
In her 2009 report, Miles noted several unusual debit-card charges for the preschool, including $20 at a hair salon and $338 at a Wal-Mart store for gloves, hats, scarves, socks and underwear, most of which were used for "a dramatic play." But Marsha Harris apparently answered most of the questions to Miles' satisfaction.
"In my opinion, the Harrises provide very well for their children and their staff," wrote Miles. "They seem to be totally dedicated to the program. I think they went from a child-care home to the large operation that they are now with total ignorance of how to be accountable for the funding they receive. It has been an overwhelming experience which they were not prepared for. I believe they have every intention to work with us and make the necessary changes in regards to accountability and following ABC guidelines. I do not believe that any of their mistakes have been intentional. They just need a great deal of guidance from us."